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“The last five years, in particular, we had a really strong pull to find the time to build this hearse,” George said.<\/p>\n
“It was all really based on how we feel we want this to look \u2013 what would we want?”<\/p>\n
That question sits at the heart of both their business and their story.<\/p>\n
Long before Hire a Kombi became known for weddings, holidays and road trips along the Great Ocean Road, it began with a single vehicle and a chance discovery.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n George’s connection to Kombis started decades ago in Queensland when he came across one that had been sitting idle for more than 30 years.<\/p>\n “We fired it back to life and it felt so amazing, so precise, so easy to drive,” he said. “That to me was a game-changer.”<\/p>\n The affection quickly grew beyond mechanics. The idea for a Kombi hire business came years later while working for a rental car company on the Gold Coast.<\/p>\n “I saw Kombis and thought, ‘Wouldn’t the Kombis make a great car for surfers to rent?’ I pitched it and they weren’t interested, so I parked the idea in my mind,” George said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n That idea sat dormant until his own collection grew.<\/p>\n “When I had about seven or eight of them, I thought, maybe I should start looking at hiring,” George said.<\/p>\n Around the same time, Alyce entered the picture \u2013 initially as a customer.<\/p>\n George had advertised a Kombi for sale, but after hearing about her plans to travel Australia, he suggested building something more suitable instead.<\/p>\n “I called her up and I said, ‘How about I sell you this Kombi? I’m happy to build it for you’,” George said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What followed was four months of daily conversations while George customised the vehicle for Alyce’s trip around the country.<\/p>\n “We would talk every day,” he said. “After that, sparked a relationship.”<\/p>\n After moving to the coast, the idea of a Kombi hire business resurfaced and Hire a Kombi began to take shape.<\/p>\n George and Alyce’s lives have grown alongside their fleet. Today, the business remains firmly family-oriented.<\/p>\n “This is us,” Alyce said. “It’s George and I and the kids and the dog, a free-range guinea pig and a couple of chickens.<\/p>\n “Our kids have known no other vehicle. They got brought home as babies in a Kombi, and that’s all they’ve ever known.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Gorgievskis believe the enduring appeal of the Kombi lies in the way people connect with it emotionally.<\/p>\n “Through movies [and] television, I think the Kombi has been used to represent that joy, freedom and peaceful kind of loving character,” Alyce said.<\/p>\n Few vehicles inspire the affection that a Kombi does.<\/p>\n “We’ve seen kids that’ll run back up and hug the van, and adults nearly crying when they have to hand over the keys,” Alyce said.<\/p>\n It was that emotional connection that ultimately inspired Wattle.<\/p>\n “For us, the ending of the life really should be a celebration,” Alyce said. “It is sad, but no one’s going to dodge it in life.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/2026-05-2512.20.06_32196.jpg\")
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